About 20 percent of Ray Lewis social media comments are negative

With his retirement ride wrapping up in the Super Bowl, Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis remains a popular topic on social media. And while perceptions have changed since Lewis pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in relation to a double murder in Atlanta in 2000, some on social media remain critical of the 17-year NFL veteran.

According to Forbes.com, which recently spoke to a social media firm called Fizziology, approximately 20 percent of all mentions of Lewis on sites like Twitter and Facebook were analyzed as negative or mixed in the past week. And half of those negative mentions referenced his alleged involvement in the murders.

Forty percent of the mentions of Lewis from Jan. 21-27 were analyzed as positive and 40 percent were neutral.

Fizziology found that here in Baltimore, only three percent of mentions of Lewis on social media were negative. Thirty-five percent were positive -- I figured it would be higher -- and 61 percent were neutral.

San Francisco, so far at least, is keeping it classy. Only 20 percent of their social media mentions over the past week were negative, and just 37 percent of the negative opinions referenced Lewis and the murder incident.

If there is a conclusion to be drawn, it is that while Lewis can shake free of blockers and tackle ball-carriers, he may never shake free of the stigmas surrounding him after he was accused of murder 13 years ago.